O n 26th March, we had a Prabhupada katha lecture in Mayapur Temple by His Excellency P.B Acharya (the governor of Assam, Tripura and Nagaland). Mr. Acharya is a Vaisnava born in Udupi, Karnataka and he had the fortune of serving Srila Prabhupada at his house in Bombay for 40 days.
During that time he had many memorable experiences with Srila Prabhupada and he narrated some of them. We can’t replicate the nectarine experience of hearing this katha in Temple but we attempt to share some of the pastimes told by him.
- Even before he met Srila Prabhupada, he was surprised to see His western disciples clean a bushy land even without caring for their meals. One day he asked Brahmananda prabhu for tea/coffee but he refused to have that. Then he invited him for a meal at his home. Brahmananda prabhu accepted food after knowing that it was prasad. Few other devotees also honored prasad at his home during next few days. When he first met Srila Prabhupada, He asked if he was a Vaisnava. He said yes and to his surprise Srila Prabhupada asked if He could stay at his home. He agreed and devotees cleaned His room very nicely. One day devotees objected to use of grinder as that may disturb His rest. He appreciated the attention His disciples had in serving Him.
- During the Hare Krsna festival, he was amazed to see devotees from Western countries in Bombay dressed in Indian attire, chanting Hare Krsna while he was in shirt pant. He felt that Srila Prabhupada’s remarkable contribution is to spread the Holy Names and teachings of Lord Krsna throughout the world in a short time.
- Right people came to him and Srila Prabhupada expertly engaged them in Krsna’s service. One Dutch hippie wanted to meet Him , Srila Prabhupada agreed and after hearing from Him, he became a clean shaved devotee within a week. He was an architect and Srila Prabhupada told him to make a design for Juhu Temple by visiting other Indian temples in 6 months. He could do so in 5 months and that design was used by Srila Prabhupada. Now the beautiful temple is a tourist attraction and it has benefited many people spiritually.
He closed by saying that situation is not so favorable in Purvanchal (North East India ) for bhakti. People there lack basic facilities and there are even threats to those who chant Hare Krsna. He asked devotees to remember NAMASTE(Nagaland, Arunachal, Meghalaya/ Mizoram/Manipur, Assam, Sikkim,Tripura : East) states and urged devotees to help people there take to bhakti.
Click link to download audio: https://www.mayapurtvarchives.com/p/downloads-2015.html
a devotional discovery of the North East…….. hare krishna…